Well-known Member

Eiren you are on the ball this week with sequel threads, good stuff. I will look forward to this game more than any other release next year i think. So far, this, Deus Ex then Elder scrolls are the big 3 for me.

Banned

Good games, but need to be "bigger" it's a pity you look at the map of the galaxy and think ooo lots of exploration...but no :-( In fact Mass Effect 2 has less exploration than 1! Great stories but too linear (even if you do side missions all based in only a few places) It's not like every system has a space station with own plots/stories/missions. Little point in using the rover to explore.

Standard Member

Really looking forward to this, i've completed both the others several times. Hopefully some more DLC for the second one still to come to keep us going, although it's going to have it's work cut out to top shadowbroker

Well-known Member

Mass Effect 3 features a new class for us to explore; the Heavy Melee option, which takes advantage of the third games newfangled close-quarters combat. Thats according to Spanish magazine, MarcaPlayer, whose exclusive preview on Biowares climactic conclusion to their genre-busting space opera sheds new light on what might be in store come the end of the year.

The Heavy Melee class  name I expect mauled in translation  seems to have been included to showcase the new melee system Bioware is implementing in Mass Effect 3. Im expecting brutal takedowns  and hopefully stealth assassinations  with a new SWAT-turn maneuver mooted, too. The cover-system is said to be reminiscent of Max Payne, and Shepard can roll or jump into small holes in the ground. Quite what that means is unclear, but dont worry; I doubt Bioware is turning Mass Effect into whack a mole.

According to the rest of the article, Bioware is mulling space-battles. At this late stage in development, I very much doubt theyre only considering including such a feature  which would require a hell of a lot of developing and testing  but theyre obviously unsure on whether its fit for duty. Confirmed locations include London and New York on your earthbound ventures, a Salarian world  Mordin!  a moon and even Mars.

As we all know, Cerberus is hellbent on offing Shepard, and though the details of this sudden breakup remain foggy, we do know the pro-human organization has deployed mechs and ninja-esque shock-troopers to eliminate him. The mechs apparently feature target-specific weak points, and Shepard can slice off arms or shatter armor. Combat in general is described as more dynamic and 10 to 15 percent faster.

But Cerberus isnt the prime enemy in the third entry, as the Reapers finally take center stage, emerging from the depths of space to remove all organic life from the galaxy, as is their custom. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from five hundred meter long vessels to individuals like Harbinger, who tops out at two kilometers in length.

The rest of the details include up to five mods available for each weapon, much more loot to pillage, new skills for classes like the Engineer who can build and repair turrets, and seemingly confirmation from Bioware that we wont be seeing the return of the Mako. In fact, we wont be driving at all. Which is somewhat sad.

Earlier today Jube covered the Mass Effect 3 release date shift from late 2011 into the first few months of 2012. Delays happen, no biggy, right? You might change your mind after you hear the reason why there was even a delay in the first place.
During an EA earnings call which took place today EA head honcho John Riccitello took a little bit of time to explain the delay. Here's a short transcript courtesy of the guys at Joystiq:

"Essentially, step by step, [BioWare is] adjusting some of the gameplay mechanics and some of the features that you'll see at E3 that can put this into a genre equivalent of shooter-meets-RPG, and essentially address a far larger market opportunity than Mass Effect 1 did and Mass Effect 2 began to approach."

Justin McElroy at Joystiq seems to think that a multiplayer component may be involved, but I'm thinking it goes beyond that. Bioware has been receiving some flak from the very same RPG fanatics who supported the company from day one. Why? Primarily because of the constant dumbing down seen in Dragon Age 2's design, and prior to that Mass Effect 2. Copies still flew off the shelves though, and despite the "mass appeal" design of Mass Effect 2 it managed to average review scores in the mid-90s.
But now we've got Mr. Riccitello discussing more of a "shooter-meets-RPG" and a "larger market opportunity" goal for Mass Effect 3 as a reason for the delay. How much do you want to bet that Mass Effect 3 is going to be even more dumbed down than Mass Effect 2 was? Best we can do is hope that's not the case, but I'm starting to think the folks at Bioware have lost it.

Well-known Member

I hope this is a bit of scaremongering as the storyline and side missions are what made ME2 so addictive. I personally thought the shooter side of things was already spot on too - loads of weapons and different biotic and tech moves.

Distinguished Member

I see Mass Effect 3, at least on the Xbox, will support Kinect - one of the first AAA, mainstream, games to do so. This will be interesting to watch. Will Kinect support be ported to the PC? What will it add - and how will it interface - with the game?

Distinguished Member

I see Mass Effect 3, at least on the Xbox, will support Kinect - one of the first AAA, mainstream, games to do so. This will be interesting to watch. Will Kinect support be ported to the PC? What will it add - and how will it interface - with the game?

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Did you see the video of it?

He was using the Kinect to control Shepard and shoot. Also it was reacting to his voice commands... so he was saying 'Liara move up' and 'Liara fire singularity' and his NPCs were following his commands.

He was using the Kinect to control Shepard and shoot. Also it was reacting to his voice commands... so he was saying 'Liara move up' and 'Liara fire singularity' and his NPCs were following his commands.

It was pretty smart... but not for me.

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Sounds fairly good - I suppose the proof of the pudding is how effectively it works in practise. I wonder if the PC will get a port of these features?